With great insult to the Holy Spirit, it is asked, who can assure us that the Scriptures proceeded from God; who guarantee that they have come down safe and unimpaired to our times; (I, 7:1)<\/span><\/p>\nThis is not an exegetical issue, but since it has directly to do with the Bible, I shall treat it in this and the next section.<\/p>\n
Accuracy of manuscript transmission is indeed an important issue. In order for it to obtain, one must presuppose or accept that those who are transmitting it reverence the source enough to transmit it accurately. Historically, that task fell to monks: many of whom devoted their entire lives to it. This is of paramount importance, and is not mere fodder for Calvin\u2019s tauntings and mockery, as if it were of no importance.<\/p>\n
But note how Calvin is treating two different topics in his first and second clauses above. Cleverly, but sophistically, in the first clause, he directly ties in transmission with the notion of divine authorship (second clause), whereas they are two quite distinct matters. Ultimately (and somewhat technically), the Church doesn\u2019t \u201cguarantee\u201d that Holy Scripture is inspired. That is held in faith, by the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. But it does claim some direct responsibility in accurate transmission.<\/p>\n
In any event, the Catholic position, rightly understood, is no insult to the Holy Spirit at all, whereas misrepresentation and bearing of false witness about fellow Christians, certainly is<\/em> such an insult.<\/p>\nwho persuade us that this<\/em> book is to be received with reverence, and that one<\/em> expunged from the list, did not the Church regulate all these things with certainty? (I, 7:1)<\/span><\/p>\nIt is historically unarguable that without authoritative Church pronouncements, differences about the canon of Scripture would have persisted, since they did (among equally godly men and eminent Church leaders) in the days before<\/em> such pronouncements were made (notably in the late fourth century). This is easily demonstrable by documenting many historical facts; for example:<\/p>\n\n- It was as late as 367 A.D. that St. Athanasius first listed the present 27 books of the New Testament.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- Moreover, St. Athanasius did seem to lower the status of the deuterocanonical books (Old Testament books accepted by Catholics but rejected by Protestants) somewhat, but not to a sub-biblical level. He cites Baruch, Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Tobit, and Susanna without distinguishing them from other biblical books.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- James wasn\u2019t even quoted by western Christians until around 350.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- There were also disputes regarding canonicity about Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation well into the fourth century.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- In the same period, the Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas were included in the prominent manuscript Codex Sinaiticus, and 1 and 2 Clement in the Codex Alexandrinus.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
\n- The Shepherd of Hermas was considered canonical by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and Clement of Alexandria, and the Didache and Epistle of Barnabas by the latter two. Clement of Alexandria accepted The Apocalypse of Peter as Scripture, and Origen thought The Acts of Paul should be in the Bible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The canon issue is quite distinct from the question of biblical inspiration. All Catholics have contended is that an authoritative declaration of canonicity was necessary in order to settle the issue once and for all, lest disagreements continue on indefinitely without resolution. This is patently obvious from facts such as the above (and they are only the tip of the iceberg).<\/p>\n
Another way of stating this is to say that the biblical books are not \u201cself-attesting\u201d to the extent<\/em> that Christians would spontaneously all come to an agreement on the canon. It\u2019s similar to the issue of perspicuity (clearness) of Scripture. There is no way to prove that it exists (in the way that Protestants claim), except for actual historical agreement.<\/p>\nBut we know that is not<\/em> the case, by observing denominations and competing theologies in Protestantism. Likewise, we know that the biblical books (though we believe them in faith to be inspired) are not all equally obvious as to their inspiration<\/em>. Therefore, the Church was quite necessary to declare the canon and clear up any confusion. Yet Calvin oddly mocks and slams this as if it were at all controversial or historically arguable.<\/p>\nOn the determination of the Church, therefore, it is said, depend both the reverence which is due to Scripture, and the books which are to be admitted into the canon. (I, 7:1)<\/span><\/p>\nOnce again, Calvin resorts to a sleight-of-hand in mixing categories that don\u2019t belong together at all. The \u201creverence which is due to Scripture\u201d doesn\u2019t depend on the Church at all, and the Catholic Church never states that it does. It\u2019s a bum rap. But the canon is<\/em> dependent historically on authoritative Church decisions. The former aspect is not intrinsically tied to the latter (except, apparently in Calvin\u2019s head). It\u2019s neither a logical nor historical juxtaposition.<\/p>\nThus profane men, seeking, under the pretext of the Church, to introduce unbridled tyranny, care not in what absurdities they entangle themselves and others, provided they extort from the simple this one acknowledgement\u2014viz. that there is nothing which the Church cannot do. (I, 7:1)<\/span><\/p>\nNone of this follows at all, as just shown, so it is mere empty anti-Catholic rhetoric, packed with hyper-charged insulting words (profane<\/em>, tyranny<\/em>, absurdities<\/em>) for polemical effect. Shame on Calvin! Later, however, he states the actual truth of the Catholic position (while being unaware that it is<\/em> the Catholic position): \u201cAdd, moreover, that, for the best of reasons, the consent of the Church is not without its weight\u201d (I, 8:12).<\/span><\/p>\nBut what is to become of miserable consciences in quest of some solid assurance of eternal life, if all the promises with regard to it have no better support than man\u2019s Judgment? On being told so, will they cease to doubt and tremble? On the other hand, to what jeers of the wicked is our faith subjected\u2014into how great suspicion is it brought with all, if believed to have only a precarious authority lent to it by the good will of men? (I, 7:1)<\/span><\/p>\nThis is all quite true. The only problem is that it is a straw man. None of this is taught by Catholicism. Therefore, Calvin is right in principle<\/em>, but dead wrong in application<\/em> of any of this to the Catholic Church.<\/p>\nNor is there any room for the cavil, that though the Church derives her first beginning from thence, it still remains doubtful what writings are to be attributed to the apostles and prophets, until her Judgment is interposed. (I, 7:2)<\/span><\/p>\nLet it therefore be held as fixed, that those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture, carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit. Enlightened by him, we no longer believe, either on our own Judgment or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human Judgment, feel perfectly assured\u2014as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it\u2014that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God. (I, 7:5)<\/span><\/p>\nWe retort that if this were indeed the case, why was there so much significant disagreement on the canon in the early Church, as shown above? Many godly men did not see that several books we consider Scripture today were indeed Scripture, by self-attestation, and conversely, saw in non-biblical books attributes that led them to falsely conclude that they were inspired.<\/p>\n
Such, then, is a conviction which asks not for reasons; such, a knowledge which accords with the highest reason, namely knowledge in which the mind rests more firmly and securely than in any reasons; such in fine, the conviction which revelation from heaven alone can produce. I say nothing more than every believer experiences in himself, though my words fall far short of the reality. I do not dwell on this subject at present, because we will return to it again: only let us now understand that the only true faith is that which the Spirit of God seals on our hearts. (I, 7:5)<\/span><\/p>\nThis is far too simplistic and subjective. We do indeed receive illumination and confirmation and internal witness in our spirits, concerning the inspired revelation of God, but we\u2019re not infallible in how we perceive or receive it. One cannot, as a result, casually eliminate (as Calvin does) the historical role of the Church in the determination of the canon.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s often been pointed out that this highly subjective criteria that Calvin offers is essentially no different from the Mormon \u201cburning in the bosom\u201d that leads them to accept many heterodox doctrines and indeed, three more allegedly \u201cscriptural\u201d writings beyond the Bible.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Calvin recognizes the important role of the Old Testament priests in preserving Scripture (even citing a deuterocanonical book), while at the same time minimizing or cavalierly dismissing the role of the New Testament Church (i.e., the Catholic Church), as if the latter preservation was somehow of lesser importance than the former:<\/p>\n
An objection taken from the history of the Maccabees (1 Macc. 1:57, 58) to impugn the credibility of Scripture, is, on the contrary, fitted the best possible to confirm it. First, however, let us clear away the gloss which is put upon it: having done so, we shall turn the engine which they erect against us upon themselves. As Antiochus ordered all the books of Scripture to be burnt, it is asked, where did the copies we now have come from? I, in my turn, ask, In what workshop could they have been so quickly fabricated? It is certain that they were in existence the moment the persecution ceased, and that they were acknowledged without dispute by all the pious who had been educated in their doctrine, and were familiarly acquainted with them. Nay, while all the wicked so wantonly insulted the Jews as if they had leagued together for the purpose, not one ever dared to charge them with having introduced spurious books. Whatever, in their opinion, the Jewish religion might be, they acknowledged that Moses was the founder of it. What, then, do those babblers, but betray their snarling petulance in falsely alleging the spuriousness of books whose sacred antiquity is proved by the consent of all history? But not to spend labour in vain in refuting these vile calumnies, let us rather attend to the care which the Lord took to preserve his Word, when against all hope he rescued it from the truculence of a most cruel tyrant as from the midst of the flames\u2014inspiring pious priests and others with such constancy that they hesitated not, though it should have been purchased at the expense of their lives, to transmit this treasure to posterity, and defeating the keenest search of prefects and their satellites. (I, 8:10)<\/span><\/p>\n***<\/p>\n
(originally 2012)<\/p>\n
Photo credit:\u00a0<\/strong>Historical mixed media figure of John Calvin produced by artist\/historian George S. Stuart and photographed by Peter d\u2019Aprix: from the<\/span>\u00a0George S. Stuart Gallery of Historical Figures archive<\/a>\u00a0[Wikimedia Commons<\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported<\/a>\u00a0license]<\/p>\n***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is an installment of a series of replies (see the\u00a0Introduction and Master List) to much\u00a0of Book IV (Of the Holy Catholic Church) \u2014 and some portions of Books I-III \u2014 of\u00a0Institutes of the Christian Religion, by early\u00a0Protestant leader\u00a0John Calvin\u00a0(1509-1564). I utilize the public domain translation of Henry Beveridge, dated 1845, from the 1559 edition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":50923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,37],"tags":[489,11857,616,7681,11854,11264,11267,22,7684,342,2355,1269],"class_list":["post-50919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-and-tradition","category-john-calvin","tag-biblical-canon","tag-calvin-the-canon","tag-canon-of-scripture","tag-catholic-protestant-debate","tag-church-authority-biblical-canon","tag-council-of-carthage","tag-council-of-hippo","tag-dave-armstrong","tag-dave-armstrong-vs-john-calvin","tag-institutes-of-the-christian-religion","tag-john-calvin","tag-st-athanasius"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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